Green Up

Spring is continuing its early push here in MN with green lawns and budding trees... should be just a matter of days until we have leaves on most of the trees.  The local dirt trails have dried up and are open for riding.  I haven't gotten out on any singletrack yet, but hopefully later this week.  I was able to get down to the MN River Valley for a short ride the other day though...

It was good to be on the fat front Fargo again... although it really hadn't been that long.  I typically don't ride this bike in the winter, but this winter was far from typical.

The first ride of the year on the FFF was also the first ride using the Revelate Designs Feed Bag.  I have to admit it was a bit of an impulse buy...  I was talking to the guys at Hiawatha Cyclery about the Feed Bag on one of their personal bikes, and they mentioned they had one in stock.  So I bought it.  With the Jandd frame bag completely full with tools and tubes, the Feed Bag provides a nice place to keep a few snacks, keys, cellphone, wallet, etc.  It is simple to install/remove, easily accessible, and allows me to keep my pockets empty.  I also like the small mesh pockets on the side... a great place to put trash so I don't have to clean out a bunch of sticky wrappers and crumbs from the main compartment.

It looks like our fair weather is going to stick around for a while longer, so I'm hoping to get out for a longer ride along the MN River Valley later in the week, along with some singletrack.  One of these days I'm going to take pics of all the grafitti on the bridges along the MN River - there is some good stuff down there.  Here's a newer one that I particularly like...

I'm also planning to finish up my jig stand later this week.  The brazing process has been taking longer than expected with all the prep work and clean up.  All three legs have been joined to the main tube; next up are the supports for the actual jig, which should go a bit faster.

The Wheels Are In Motion...

It had been a few weeks since I made the Friday Night Ride, and after a long work week I was considering skipping it again.  Ultimately thoughts of warm weather, good company, beer, and dry bike paths changed my mind...

It was a larger than usual crew, which was nice since it was a faster than usual pace at times and the good turnout meant I wasn't the only one at the back of the pack when the speeds picked up.  We rode a slightly longer version of one of my favorite loops, albeit the opposite direction I usually ride it.  What goes up, must come down, right?  In general I prefer gradual climbs and steep descents over steep climbs and gradual descents... we rode the loop in the 'steep climb' direction.

Friday night was my only ride of the weekend, but it was a good one.  I'm looking forward to many more night rides (with beer stops, of course) from now until the snow flies again next winter.

The other bike-related activity I devoted time to this weekend was building the stand for my frame building jig.  I only got one leg of the stand brazed before I ran out of light, but it was nice to finally braze something at home with my own torch.  Depending on the weather I should be able to finish the stand later this week.  I should have pics of the jig mounted on the stand for my post next weekend...


Stopping is half the fun...

March Madness

For the second weekend in a row it has been absolutely gorgeous here in Mpls.  Today it got up to 79 degrees (officially at the airport)... it felt more like summer than spring.  The warm, dry weather has helped motivate me to get in some good rides, and I'm finally starting to feel my legs get stronger.  Today I rode a 25 mile variation of my Big Rivers Loop.

Up until this week I had 47mm Conti Travel Contact tires (front and rear) on my Fargo "road" bike, but I decided to switch the front to a 2.1" Maxxis Cross Mark.  The skinny Conti tire made the front end feel a bit too twitchy for my liking.  The bike handles much better with the fatter tire, not to mention the added comfort and traction it provides.

The Cross Mark is an off-road tire with closely spaced knobs running down the center that help it roll well on hard surfaces.  I toyed with the idea of putting a Big Apple on the front, but they are just so heavy.  The Cross Mark might not roll as well as the Big Apple, but it weighs 300 grams less.

On a ride last weekend I had a beer bust open in the rack trunk, presumably from bouncing around and hitting the rack.  Before today's ride I added another layer of foam to the bottom of the rack.  It seemed to do the trick because the Surly Bender arrived at my pit stop in perfect condition.  It was a great day to sit in the sun on the sandy banks of the Mississippi...

After crossing to the other side of the river I headed upstream to Mendota so I could check on the MN Valley trail.  I figured it'd still be too muddy and icy, but to my surprise it was rideable... so I headed down to highway 494 via the dirt trail.

It was good to be back on this trail, albeit I wasn't on the ideal bike.  The trail still had a lot of soft spots and the 47mm rear tire sunk in and felt sluggish for much of the trail.  But it was good to be back nonetheless.  The early spring is helping make up for the fact that I didn't ride this trail in the snow at all this winter.  I hope to get back later in the week on the fat front Fargo.

Lastly, here's a frame building update... I received flux and bronze brazing rod this week.  With a busy work week ahead I probably won't be able to braze my first project (a stand for my jig) until next weekend... it'll be a good motivator for me to finish all my work before the end of the week.


Stopping is half the fun...

Spring 2012

Spring 2012 has come early to Mpls... it was 65 degrees and sunny both days this weekend, the snow is nearly gone, and I have absolutely no interest in seeing any fresh snow until next fall.  It's still at least a few weeks off, but I'm hoping the early spring will result in early openings for the local singeltrack trails.

The weather was beautiful, albeit windy, so I made a point of going for a longer ride yesterday.  I ended up with 40 miles, with the last 10 being tougher than expected due to the wind, and of course my poor fitness level.  The route was a combination of trails; Minnehaha Creek >  Lakes Harriet and Calhoun > Cedar Lake Trail > Mississippi River > Hidden Falls/Crosby Farm Parks > Big Rivers Trail > Fort Snelling State Park.

For the most part the trails were clear and dry, but I did hit some deep puddles and snow/ice on the Crosby Farm and Lilydale trails.  Most of it was rideable, but I had to walk around a couple half-frozen puddles in Crosby.  No photos... just riding.

Regarding the framebuilding project, I received an order from Paragon Machine Works last week...

A 100mm bottom bracket shell, and three tube blocks... 1 1/8", 1 1/4" and 1 3/8" sizes.  Those three sizes will cover all the tubes in the front triangle, and should make it much easier to keep the miters in phase with each other.

The forecast is calling for continued warm weather, so I might just be sparking up the torch next weekend...

NAHBS 2012 Inspiration

After seeing the first wave of photos coming out of the North American Handmade Bicycle Show, I'm feeling inspired.  With plans to build myself a bike this spring, I'm always looking for cool ideas.  Racks, braze-ons, untraditional designs... I love it.

The following are a few of my favorites so far... the photos are from Dirt Rag's NAHBS coverage (click on the link for even more photos of some REALLY cool bikes).  Dirt Rag/Bicycle Times always does a great job of covering NAHBS, check 'em out.

And I love the concept of this last one...

[UPDATE 3/5/12] - There is also some great NAHBS coverage over at Urban Velo.  Check it out.